The Secret Master

Seeing his sister's puzzled look, Klein suddenly felt that this was an opportunity. He looked her up and down for a few moments, then said solemnly: "Melissa, you didn't show enough respect for today's dinner party." "What?" Melissa looked completely bewildered. Klein pointed at her neck and said: "As a lady, you still lack a necklace to embellish this scene." Before his sister could speak, he chuckled and took out a silver amulet surrounded by angel feathers from his pocket: "Well, I prepared one for you." "..." Melissa was momentarily stunned, then blurted out, "How much?" Girl, your focus is not quite right... Klein quipped without emotion, smiling and explaining: "Actually, it's not expensive. Because it was just a semi-finished product at first. I carved the blessing spells and beautiful patterns on it based on the ancient artifacts I had seen before." "You carved it?" Melissa was indeed distracted. "How about it? What do you think of my craftsmanship?" Klein then handed the amulet to his sister naturally. Melissa looked at it over and over again, biting her lip softly and saying: "I like the angel feathers around it." If you think the carved spells and symbols are ugly, just say it directly. Don't hide it... The amulet is mainly about the effect! Klein's mouth twitched slightly, about to persuade his sister to accept it, when he saw Melissa wearing a silver necklace with a puzzled expression on her face, and placing the amulet in its proper position carefully. "Perfect." Klein looked at it and praised extravagantly. Melissa glanced at him, lowered her head and said grumpily: "Klein, you weren't like this before. This way..." "Perhaps it's because of the good job and decent income, that the whole person has become more confident." Klein interrupted his sister's words and made an explanation first. Oh, although I accepted the memory fragments of the previous owner, there were no major problems in the big picture, but in some details, I still habitually presented the true personality... Especially after getting along with Benson and Melissa more and more naturally... He sighed inwardly. Melissa seemed to accept his reasoning, pursed her lips and said: "You are doing well now, really well..." After the siblings chatted for a while, Benson changed his clothes and went downstairs. Wearing a white shirt, black armor, a tailcoat, a black tie and straight pants, he looked completely new, like a successful person who had worked hard for many years. The hairline was also very similar... Klein thought to himself with a smile. "Very good, Benson. You look perfect in this." He spread his hands with a bright smile. Melissa also nodded in agreement beside him. "Proving that clothes are more important than the person." Benson joked. Klein took the remaining amulet out and repeated his previous words, adding at the end: "I also made one for you." "It's not bad. I'll carry it with me." Benson accepted it calmly and joked, "Klein, even if you suddenly start cutting hair, making clothes, repairing clocks, and feeding fluffy baboons, I won't feel strange." "Life is always full of surprises and accidents." Klein replied with a smile. Next, the siblings tidied themselves up, walked out of the gate, and took the monorail public carriage to reach the North District Fanny Street where Selina lived. The Wood family was also a row of houses, but unlike Klein and his group, there was a porch and a small lawn in front of the house, making it more elegant. Pulling the doorbell, Klein, Benson and Melissa only waited for about ten seconds before seeing the main character of today, Selina Wood. This girl with long red hair happily gave Melissa a hug: "I like this dress of yours. It makes you look particularly beautiful." Beside her was her father, Mr. Wood Sr., a senior employee of the Bank of Berland in the Tingen branch. "Welcome, our respected elder brother, welcome, our young historian." He greeted Benson and Klein with exaggerated gestures. Young historian... Why not add "with a conscience" description... Klein muttered to himself, took off his hat, and smiled in response: "Mr. Wood, you are more energetic and younger than I imagined." His compliment style unconsciously leaned towards the glutton empire. Benson then reached out and shook hands with Mr. Wood: "I know quite a few bank employees, but they are all equally arrogant and stiff, just like the latest model of machines. None is as courteous as you." "If you had met me at the bank, you might not have said that." Old Wood smiled very happily. After the small talk, Selina, wearing a new long dress, led the siblings into the room with a slight jump. Sometimes she spoke at a normal volume, saying "Elizabeth has arrived", and sometimes she lowered her voice to tell Melissa, "Your two brothers are more handsome than I imagined." Hey, my hearing is good... Although you were saying something complimentary... Klein helplessly looked at the two sixteen-year-old girls walking side by side in front of him. It's not right. I'm still quite a ways away from being handsome... Sigh, Miss Selina, how ugly did you think I and Benson were before? An introverted and gloomy, unkempt, pale-faced, with lifeless eyes, and one with sparse hair and premature aging? Klein casually pinched the center of his forehead and diligently practiced "clairvoyance". Miss Selina is healthy, excited, and very happy... Mr. Wood, the gentleman, has a minor problem with his lungs. Yes, I saw his pipe... Klein looked at the people present with a pleasant mood. "Elizabeth, Melissa is here." At this moment, Selina greeted in a light tone towards the front. A girl in a blue lace long dress walked over. She had natural curly brown hair and cute baby fat. Klein was stunned for a moment because he knew this girl. In the underground trading market, he had even helped the other party select amulets! Elizabeth greeted Melissa first, then looked at Benson and Klein. She stood there, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, seemingly thinking about something. Soon, Elizabeth smiled and politely greeted them nonchalantly. Klein also pretended not to recognize the other person, led by Mr. Wood to the sofa area of the living room, and introduced to Selina's brother Chris and other guests. Watching Benson chatting happily with Chris and other legal assistants about Mr. Shad from the next door, Klein couldn't help feeling a bit envious. I don't have such social skills... He picked up a glass of pre-meal wine from the table in the corner and listened quietly, nodding from time to time, and laughing a couple of times in agreement. Not long after, all the guests arrived, and the dinner officially began. Because there were too many invited guests, the table at the Wood's couldn't handle it, so the dinner was held in a buffet format. The maids brought steaks, roasted chicken, fried fish, mashed potatoes and other foods one plate at a time to different tables, and the servants were responsible for cutting them to make the portions suitable for taking. Klein saw the elegant glazed plates and silver knives and forks and couldn't help but be amazed, thinking that the Wood family, even though they were middle-class, was too luxurious. "Since you are so rich, why does Chris still need to prepare for the wedding for a few more years?" He wondered about what his sister had said before, "Well, maybe it's to accumulate such tableware, that's why he needs to prepare for a few more years. For such a family, dignity is very important!" While his thoughts were swirling, Klein picked up a porcelain plate and came to the table, forked a piece of honeyed roasted meat. Just then, Elizabeth with cute baby fat leaned closer and looked at the food, whispering: "So you are Melissa's brother... Thank you, Selina really likes the amulet I gave her, saying that as soon as she put it on, she felt her body became healthier." Selina... Amulet... Klein suddenly remembered the reason why the young girl chose the amulet at the beginning: As a birthday gift for a friend who likes mysticism! Was that friend Selina? Did Selina like things from the mysterious field? Klein furrowed his eyebrows and politely smiled: "That might just be the effect of a placebo." After saying this, he began to wait for the other person to praise Emperor Rosel. Elizabeth's reaction was a look of confusion: "What is a placebo?" "It's just a psychological effect. Sometimes, when we believe we will get better, we actually do get better." Klein briefly explained. "No, she said it was different from the amulets she had bought before. It felt different." Elizabeth emphasized. She turned her head to look at Klein, curiously saying: "I didn't expect Melissa's brother to be a mysticism expert." "You know, I'm a history major, so I always come across similar things." Klein smoothly changed the topic and asked, "Are you also in the Technical School in Tingen?" "No, I was a classmate of Selina and Melissa before. Later, they went to the technical school, and I was at the Ivors Public School nearby." Elizabeth explained seriously. A public school is not a public school; it is a school that admits students based on the public, evolved from good grammar schools, aiming to cultivate students who can enter universities. The tuition is very expensive, and the family background of students is also examined. Even the average middle-class family cannot afford it. She didn't talk much and picked up her food and returned to Selina's side. After congratulating the protagonist on his happy birthday, the dinner gradually came to an end. Klein and Benson were invited to join the Texas Poker game. The small blind was half a cent, and the big blind was one cent. While Melissa, Elizabeth, and Selina and other friends went to the second floor, they were not sure if they were chatting or playing other games. Klein had bad luck today. He played about twenty hands, but he never got a good hand. He could only keep looking at the cards and discarding them, acting as a spectator. He tilted a corner of the card again and found it was the Heart 2 and the Club 5. "Would you like to bluff for a round?" Klein thought for a moment, but still couldn't muster up that courage and restrained the urge to cheat with divination. He covered the cards, tapped the table, signaled to fold, and then got up and left the long table, heading to the bathroom. Rosel was also someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder. She even found a strange reason to continue calling this game Texas... Klein moved forward while shaking his head. Just then, he suddenly stopped, his eyes narrowing. His inspiration told him that there were strange fluctuations upstairs!